What the...

[cornerofmadness]

So I was reading and editing Machiavelli Moon (you know, plowing through a 15 year old manuscript trying to cut away the crap that makes you cringe and 'fixing' it all the while adding word count?) and found a monstrously large mistake.

Sulien is pleading with the werewolf pack not to kill his insane daughter. After doing a global search on her name, she's only mentioned once back in the 1100's. So.....we're begging for someone to be spared that we don't KNOW is involved yet. Headdesk. Now to reread the first 13 chapters to see if i DO have a reference I've already forgotten in the weeks it took me to get this far and didn't have it in by her name.

But later it IS a surprise to see her involvement and it's meant to be. I think i was trying to set up that she's loony but this just doesn't work.

and there were at least a TWO DOZEN first readers for this since it made in through two writers' groups not to mention personal friends. How the hell did no one notice? (which makes me wonder if there was reason to suspect Erianwen and then I changed part of it based on their suggestions in the first place...)

Comments

[0-mother-0.livejournal.com]

Wow, that totally got by me - and I usually notice little errors and discrepancies.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

the only thing i can think of is somewhere along the line Imentioned that Erianwen has been with the crown three for centuries but you know that makes no sense. I can't think that they would have allowed Erianwen to stay with them if they knew that's where she was

[masqthephlsphr.livejournal.com]

I have errors like that I don't catch for several complete drafts. As the writer of this large work, it exists all at once for you, the beginning, middle, and end being one piece, and you forget the chronological order of things.

Betas should catch that, but often they are reading piecemeal and not like a reader who sits down and starts at the beginning.

This gets the official head desk icon of doom.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

i think it is the piecemeal thing since yeah the writers group only see a chapter every other month. And this is the first time I've looked at it all the way through since the 90's.

yep it deserves teh head desk icon of doom

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

The hard part I've found is that =I= know everything, everything about everyone in my universe -- and initially I told ALL of it. Then I cut a lot of it out, of course, because it wasn't "important to the story." Now I'm finding there was a lot cut that I never considered because, well, I knew it already -- but readers didn't, and wanted to. (Like the suggestion I re-write one of Matt's scenes from someone else's POV so it can be in Ring of Fire when of course it was cut because it was Matt's POV and all of Matt's scenes were cut...)

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

that's certainly part of of my problem I don't doubt. It'slike argh. And if there is a one off comment about Erianwen being with the baddies i want to remove it so there is more impact later when she DOES show up

[wildrider.livejournal.com]

I really ought to get back to reading MMoon... (I'm very lax)

But I know what you mean; there were several scenes in the next book that were from a POV I realized I didn't want to give all that information away so early.

I'm hoping I can finish up ROF with the Links so I can start putting up "new" work...

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

as if i'm doing any better with your nano i found it the other day the promptly lost the print out again.

good luck in finishing.

i would like to finish the two old nanos that I'm close to actually finishing and fleshing out this past one so it's n ovel length for an epublisher